Forexpros - Gold futures eased down on Monday, pulling further away from last week’s three-month top as fears over the euro zone’s debt crisis lingered following a weekend meeting of finance ministers from the Group of 20, but losses were limited amid concerns over rising oil prices. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery traded at USD1,771.05 a troy ounce during early European morning trade, shedding 0.28%. It earlier fell by as much as 0.35% to trade at a three-day low of USD1,770.15 a troy ounce. Futures were likely to find support at USD1,750.85 a troy ounce, the low from February 22 and resistance at USD1,788.85, February 23’s high and the highest since mid-November. Gold prices came under mild selling pressure after a weekend meeting of the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers failed to make progress on increasing the size of the International Monetary Fund’s lending capacity. The G-20 postponed a decision on a global bailout package to address the debt crisis in the euro zone and said any decision on outside help will be conditional upon on European governments increasing the size of their firewall in the next two months. Markets were also jittery as Germany’s parliament was preparing to vote later Monday on a EUR130 billion bailout package for Greece, which was agreed upon by euro zone finance ministers last week. While gold is traditionally viewed as a safe haven, the metal has been tracking riskier assets in the past few months as the turmoil caused by the euro zone debt crisis forces investors to sell their profitable gold positions to cover losses elsewhere. Some modest profit taking also weighed, following the metal’s recent run of gains, while some market participants noted strong resistance in front of the USD1,800-an-ounce level. Meanwhile, losses were limited as the international tensions over Iran's nuclear program boosted oil prices to the highest level since May of last year. Crude oil prices traded close to USD109 a barrel in New York, while Brent oil rose above USD124 in London. Higher oil prices tend to benefit gold as it enhances its appeal as a hedge against oil-led inflation. Prices also found support as investors eyed the launch of a second liquidity operation by the European Central Bank next week. The ECB’s second three-year long-term refinancing operation, known as an LTRO, is scheduled for February 29 and could total nearly EUR500 billion, according to market analysts. Gold can benefit from such an environment of easy money because of expectations that ample liquidity would put a damper on the value of paper currencies and boost inflation. Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for March delivery dipped 0.1% to trade at USD35.38 a troy ounce, while copper for May delivery shed 0.45% to trade at USD3.852 a pound.

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